NATCHEZ — Ten years ago Willie Barnes was looking to the future.

Barnes opened his store, Bags and Beyond, in 2007, after 34 years as a teacher in Louisiana and Mississippi.

“I retired in the fall semester, opened my store on Dec. 23, 2007, and never looked back,” he said. “I feel really blessed to have had my store for 10 years.”

At first, Barnes said he did not know how long the venture would last.

“When you start a business like this, you take a risk,” he said. “I was hoping in 10 years, I could look back and say the risk worked out. And it did.”

Barnes built his store from the ground up.

After purchasing a five-acre plot of land of U.S. 61 outside of Natchez, he planned and designed his building with the hope that the store would not only be a benefit to him and his family, but to his community.

“I grew up about a mile from here,” Barnes said. “People don’t always realize that when you open a business, you’re not just investing in the store. You’re investing in your community.”

Barnes said owning and working in the store every day — he is the only employee — means he has come to know his community as they walk through his front door.

“Growing up, I didn’t really know everyone here. Now I do.”

Barnes said he often haggles with some customers — giving a deal on backpacks for a family of four or making a compromise to help out someone he knows is struggling.

Knowing your merchandise and your clientele, he said, means he knows what he can do to help others.

For patrons who do not know him well, Barnes spends much of his time giving directions.

His is the one of the few businesses between Fayette and Natchez on a long and lonely stretch of U.S. 61, and he said lost people stop in often asking for his help.

“I’ve met people from all walks of life and from all parts of the world,” he said. “Canada, Australia, Italy — to name some.”

If ever he does not know where the lost traveler is headed, Barnes said he never minds looking up directions behind the counter.

The store, which Barnes said he wanted to be “not too big, not too small,” is lined wall-to-wall with purses, clutches, backpacks, suitcases, sweaters and a variety of small items.

“People will go to Jackson to buy something they can get here,” Barnes said. “People have told me they couldn’t find in Jackson what they found right here.”

In recent years, Barnes said he has been breaking into jewelry, and has several watches, necklaces and other apparel.

Barnes said his search for the right merchandise sends him all over the country; he has a trip planned for Texas next weekend and California in June.

His efforts, he said, are in the hopes of securing the best prices.

“I see stores in malls and in cities all the time now that are closing,” he said. “I think the internet is a big factor in that. But a lot of online stores will sell you a product and include the price of shipping. I don’t have to do that. If I sell you something, there is no middle man.”

In the next 10 years, Barnes said he and his wife Annie, plan to expand — hopefully adding on another wing to the store and maybe even employing a few cashiers.

“My business can grow,” he said. “It’s a reasonable thought. If I can let people know I’m here and I can give you the best prices, I think we can do alright.”

Even if the next 10 years do not work out like he planned, Barnes said he is proud of his store and the work he has put into it.

“I’m blessed to have my store,” Barnes said. “I didn’t want to look back and regret anything, and I don’t.”